Nokia Scaling-Back Hardware Orders In Anticipation Of WP8?

Ever since Microsoft officially confirmed that current Windows Phone 7 smartphones will not be seeing upgrades to the full Windows Phone 8 experience, instead getting a seriously pared-down Windows Phone 7.8, we’ve wondered what impact the news would have on Windows Phone sales in the months to go before WP8 lands. Surely, in announcing WP7.8, Microsoft instantly made it a whole lot more difficult for manufacturers to unload existing devices to knowledgeable consumers. It looks like Nokia is on the same page here, and has reportedly been scaling-back its orders for new Lumia hardware.

This news comes to us via Compal Communications, the firm that manufacturers a significant amount of Nokia’s gear. Compal just saw a monthly revenue drop of nearly forty percent, and is pointing the finger at Nokia and a sharp fall-off in the quantities it’s ordering. It’s difficult to get a proper sense of the scale of Nokia’s order decrease without some additional figures, but from the sound of things, the company is drastically cutting back on new unit production.

That doesn’t mean that we should expect Lumia shortages anytime soon, and the company could very well have decent stocks of already-manufactured hardware on hand, but it does seem to confirm our expectations that these next several months are going to be dead slow ones for Windows Phone sales.

Stephen has been writing about electronics since 2008, which only serves to frustrate him that he waited so long to combine his love of gadgets and his degree in writing. In his spare time, he collects console and arcade game hardware, is a motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys trapping blue crabs. Stephen's first mobile device was a 624 MHz Dell Axim X30, which he's convinced is still a viable platform. Stephen longs for a market where phones are sold independently of service, and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful; he's not holding his breath. In the meantime, he devours smartphone news and tries to sort out the juicy bitsRead more about Stephen Schenck!